Optical communications systems commonly use optical fibers for carrying very large quantities of information with low distortion and at low cost over great distances. Optical systems are also promising for such purposes as computing because of the inherently high speed at which they can be operated. For these reasons, considerable development work has been done on such components of optical communications systems as glass optical fibers and glass lenses.
An example of such a development is the photonics package described in the co-pending patent application of Ackerman et al. Ser. No. 572,592, filed Aug. 27, 1990, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,124,281, granted Jun. 23, 1992, hereby incorporated h erein by reference, which describes a method for mounting spherical glass lenses on a silicon substrate so that, after assembly of the package, they will be precisely aligned on opposite sides of a laser. The ball lenses then direct the light from one end of the laser to a photodetector and light from the other end of the laser to an optical fiber. Epoxy is used for securing in place the glass spherical lenses and the optical fiber.
Photonics packages typically contain electronics circuits in addition to elements such as lasers and detectors. These devices can be easily contaminated and, as a consequence, much effort has been expended in providing suitable packaging for sealing them from the external environment. Epoxy and other adhesives can constitute a contamination source and if such a source could be eliminated, the packaging of the various elements in a photonics package would be simplified.